


The Wounds We Share

by Parastyle



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arlo being an awesome friend, Blood and Torture, Depression, Divorce, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Family Drama, Nora being slightly an obsessive bitch, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Torture, Spoilers, The Flying Pigs (My Time At Portia), True Love, We fully believe Aadit is the Rogue Knight in this fic, mature themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:40:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28062549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parastyle/pseuds/Parastyle
Summary: Avery and Aadit struggled together and against each other. When he ran away, leaving her with divorce papers and a teddy bear, Avery ran away too.
Relationships: Aadit/Female Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Female Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Nora (My Time At Portia)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first My Time at Portia fanfic! This is going to be a darker version of the story. I love the game and it's really cute and sweet but I think it'd be great if the game was a bit darker and more mature themed with its relationships. So here we are! 
> 
> I have taken some extreme liberties with the lore. I spent a lot of time on the wiki looking up the history, geography, and culture of MTAP's lore but there isn't much available so I'm just gonna make it up. I have changed some of the cut scenes and dialogue to fit my story a bit better. Some of the changes may seem silly now but I promise they'll make sense later on. I am planning on this being a multi-chapter fic so please make sure you bookmark and subscribe to get updates if you're interested in reading more. 
> 
> And lastly, I am still going through my first play through of the game so updates may be a bit slow as I continue to progress further into the Rogue Knight missions. 
> 
> Enjoy my crazy creation!

The moment he grabbed her by the thigh and threw her, she knew.

The Rogue Knight had walked into the building with an intimidating aura. Sam had been shaking slightly when she came running in to inform them that someone was coming. A look of panic and fear marred her face. Avery wasn’t sure if Mali and Arlo noticed but there was a pressure that engulfed the room as soon as the Rogue Knight spotted the fake All Source AI. He stopped for a moment to observe the hastily made imitation before unsheathing his sword, ready to strike it down. Avery briefly wondered if he had fallen for her crude trap but she didn’t dwell on it long. The moment he came close enough to the center of the trap she built, Avery pressed the button to release the cage. The cage slammed onto the metal ground in a loud clang. Although having no locks or a bottom piece, the cage weighed almost a ton. Avery had to bring it to the building in pieces in the middle of the night with the help of the Civil Corp and build it on site. It took two weeks to complete. The Rogue Knight was locked in.

The crude puppet spat out a spray of diluted venom to stun him. He tried to dodge the spray but was unsuccessful. He grunted in annoyance and furiously scrubbed at his mask’s lens with his sleeves. Avery clicked her tongue in her own annoyance. She was not counting on him to be donning a gas mask. If she knew, she wouldn’t have wasted her precious venom on him.

Mali and Arlo came charging out from their hiding place, eager to confront the knight. Sam followed, with Avery trailing behind. She wasn’t too keen on confronting a knight. Arlo chuckled as he looked at the knight with a successful smirk. His fingers wrapped around his dagger as he approached the cage. Mali, unarmed, also approached. But Avery stayed behind. She didn’t like the aura around the knight. He was too composed. Too quiet. And most of all, she had a feeling he was staring at her. It was making the hairs on the back of her neck itch. She pulled the war hammer from its holder on her back and got into a ready stance, just in case.

“Ha, not so sneaky now, are you?” Arlo huffed out a laugh.

The knight remained silent.

“Who are you? You followed us here, didn’t you?” Mali took a step closer.

“Not too fast Mali,” Arlo followed her and took a step forward. “We designed this to hold a rhino, so this thief will be in here for a while. We’ll have ample time to ask him questions. For now, I want to see who’s under that mask.”

The knight, who had been motionless since wiping venom off his mask, shifted to look at Arlo. They all tensed up. “Are you done?” He spoke. There was a voice modifier in his mask. His voice came out raspy and full of air.

“What?” Arlo pulled his dagger out.

The knight turned away from them and raised his left hand. Attached to it was a blaster. He aimed it at the puppet. A loud popping sound exploded within the room as he blew it into tiny pieces. Shrapnel flew everywhere. They all went their separate ways, away from the cage, in an attempt to dodge the flying shrapnel. A piece of the porcelain plates flew past Avery’s arm and sliced through her sleeve but luckily didn’t catch any flesh. She pulled herself tightly together behind a giant metal and stone chest that had been overturned hundreds of years ago. She closed her eyes and waited for the explosion to settle.

Taking full advantage of the confusion, the Rogue Knight slashed through Avery’s cage. He immediately charged for Arlo. He raised the sword, ready to strike. Arlo got into a defensive position but was shoved aside last minute by Mali. She kicked the knight’s sword aside and threw a punch. He back stepped, re-positioned himself, and charged again. This time for Mali.

“Everyone spread out! He can’t take us all on!” Mali shouted as she jumped and dodged each slash and slice the knight threw at her. It was like watching a choreographed dance fight. Avery had silently judged Mali’s decision when she showed up to their stakeout without a weapon and just a backpack full of food and water. But as she watched Mali deflect the knight’s sword with practiced ease and throw her own punches and kicks, Avery rescinded her prejudice.

Arlo and Sam jumped into the fight. It quickly became a tangle of fast moving limbs. Avery hung back. Even if the others will call her a coward later, she wasn’t going to rush in like they all did and get herself injured. There was too much going on. Mali spent a lot of her time dodging Arlo and Sam’s flurry of inexperienced maneuvers. Arlo and Sam almost crashed into each other a few times. The knight grabbed them each by a limb and slammed them together. He threw them across the room and grabbed Mali’s flying kick. She tried to raise her other leg for a kick but the knight slammed her into the ground. She fell limp. And the fight was over. A small groan escaped Mali’s lips as she tried hard to breathe past the shock.

The knight stepped over her and turned to look at Avery. She took a step back and gripped her war hammer.

“You are not a fighter.” The knight suddenly said. “Leave.”

 _“_ Well that was offensive.” Avery responded on instinct. The tip of the knight’s sword dropped to face the ground. He turned to her fully but didn’t take a step forward.

“I do not fight ordinary citizens.” The knight said.

“Sorry, I’ve already received the money for this job.” Avery raised her hammer above her shoulder and ran at the knight. He reacted quick. Their weapons clanged together in a deadlock. She had swung her hammer with everything she had but the knight was miles out of her league in terms of strength. He didn’t even budge other than to steady his stance against her assault. His sword intercepted the staff of her hammer easily and he pushed back. She dug her heels into the ground, refusing to give up. And there they stood, struggling against each other.

“You will not win.” The knight whispered to her. He grabbed onto the staff of her hammer and tried to pull it away from her. Avery pulled back. She had to make a decision. Abandon the hammer or continue to struggle in a possibly losing battle. She chose to let go. Feeling the full force of gravity, the hammer dropped to the floor. Without the weight to struggle against, the knight stumbled froward, his sword drooping. Avery dodged the sword and aimed a punch at the knight’s mask, trying to dislodge it. But he was faster. The knight dropped his sword as well and grabbed onto her wrist.

 _Fuck it._ Avery grabbed his wrist as well and swung herself up onto his shoulder. Her sudden athleticism stunned him. It gave her the chance to interlock her legs around his neck and squeeze, suffocating him. She wrapped her hands around his mask and tried to tug it off. The knight swung around trying to shake her off in his panic. She struggled with unclasping his mask. In the corner of her vision as they spun, she noticed Mali and Arlo had managed to get back on their feet. Sam was not far behind. She was pulling a piece of shrapnel out of her arm.

“Avery!” Arlo shouted. He ran in, trying to help her but the knight held out his blaster and shot him back. Avery continued to struggle. She can worry about Arlo after the fight. She pulled, grabbed, tugged. She even tried bashing it with the palm of her hands at what she was guessing is its weakest spots to get it to break but it wasn’t budging. In the midst of her dilemma, the knight had regained his composure.

And even though she never got his mask off, she knew instantly who he was. He gabbed her thighs with both his hands and began to pry them open. She squeezed tighter. Her upper body strength may not be a match for him but she was confident in her legs. After all, ruin diving and mining required a lot of core and leg strength. But she hadn’t counted on him knowing where to dig his fingers. His left fingers quickly found a wound she had gotten as a thirteen year old from fighting a Jump Dancer in Barnarock. The nasty monster had dug its sharp teeth into her leg and gnawed off a part of it. There was no muscle damage and although the wound had since closed and healed, her nerves were damaged. And usually she wouldn’t notice unless she hit it by accident or in this current case, someone digging their finger nails into the scar tissue.

The howling scream that tore from her throat bounced off the metal walls surrounding them. The pain shot up her inner thigh, paralyzing her. Her legs lost all their strength. And he took full advantage by grabbing her by her left ankle and threw her into the wall behind them. Avery slid to the floor, paralyzed by the radiating pain spreading from her back and into her chest. She struggled to breathe through the pain. Darkness was quickly creeping in from the corner of her eyes as she stared at the ceiling. The sounds of someone screaming her name and weapons clanging together faded away. The dark consumed her vision. And she was left to the mercy of her dreams. 

….……

Avery had a habit of coming home late in the night. So she couldn’t fault Aadit for looking confused as he hunched over his dinner at the dining table. He dropped his spoon into the bowl and stood up to greet her as he followed her into the equipment room so she can unload. He grabbed her bag full of old relics she found and began helping her sort them.

“What would you like to eat for dinner?” He asked her. “I wasn’t expecting you so early so I didn’t start making yours yet.”

Avery stopped sorting the ores she had poured into the metal container and turned to face Aadit. A look of surprise donned on her face. “Aadit… have you been making my meals late at night? Is that why they’re always still piping hot when I eat them?”

Aadit chuckled. “Well, I am not in the habit of making my fiancee eat cold dinners. You work harder than any Portian. You deserve a hot meal afterwards, like any of us do.”

“I… I don’t know how to respond to that. Like, do I gush and profess my love in a girly voice? Or do I nod and say thank you? Why are you so good at this?! Why can’t I be on your level?” Despite her words, a heavy blush was rushing through her cheeks and she had migrated across the room to where Aadit was standing. He had turned fully to look down at her as she pressed herself up against him in a tight hug. He hugged her back and laughed as she hid her face in his overalls. After awhile, she separated herself from him and smiled up at him.

“I gotta head back out soon. I’m meeting Arlo later.” She said.

“For dinner?” Aadit asked. Avery walked back to the ores and began sorting them again. Aadit turned back to the relics.

“No. He wants to meet me in the Collapsed Wasteland.” She said.

“Oh?” Aadit answered.

“Yeah… he’s acting weird. He stopped me in the middle of Peach Plaza this morning when I went to get a new commission and asked me to meet him tonight. Said he had something important to discuss. But the choice of location is concerning me. The Collapsed Wasteland isn’t somewhere you just sit down and have a chat.” Avery chattered away.

“Perhaps he was just saying it’s a chat to deter anyone eavesdroppers?” Aadit suggested.

“... Huh… I never thought of that.” Avery said.

Aadit chuckled.

After sorting through the relics and ores, Aadit insisted that Avery eat the dinner he had already prepared since she had to head back out. He was going to make himself another one later. Even though she didn’t want to take his dinner away, one smell of the delicious salmon had her mouth watering. She sheepishly sat down and ate as she watched him cook himself another portion.

The time to meet Arlo quickly approached. She grabbed her Nova sword, a roll of bandages and bid Aadit good night, just in case he was asleep when she got back. He kissed her on the lips softly. “Stay safe,” his whisper ghosted against her lips. He pulled back and she chased after him.

“Maybe I should stay,” she whispered.

He laughed, gave her another peck, spun her around and gave her a pushing pat on the butt. “Go. Hurry back.”

She spun back around, “You can’t pat me on the butt and expect me to actually go.” She protested.

“Go.” He laughed louder.

“Ok. Ok. I’m going.” She rolled her eyes and left the house.

She took a Dee-Dee transport to the Collapsed Wasteland, giving her horse the night off. Her Baby worked harder than she did and she wasn’t going to push him further. Arlo was already standing by the pond when she made her way further into the Wasteland. She slid down the side of the hill carefully. He looked up at the sound of soil shifting above him. He smiled as she came closer. Arlo had found a boulder big enough for the both of them to sit on.

“Hey, what’s up? Why are we meeting here?” She asked him as she sat down.

“Thanks for coming…” Arlo looked really serious. “Sorry for calling you out here. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about this at the Corp or anywhere near town. Never know when someone is listening. This is a small town.” He said.

“No problem. So what is it?” Avery asked.

“It’s about Nora.” Arlo said.

“Nora…” Avery asked.

“Yeah. She said she likes me.” Arlo said.

“Oh. Wow. That’s uhhhh…” Avery trailed off.

“Yeah.”

Silence swooped in and engulfed them. Arlo had looked away, staring at the water instead. Avery tried her best to appear at ease but she was becoming increasingly awkward. Eventually she caved and turned to him.

“Look. I’m not sure what it is that you want to talk about. Just come out and say it.” She said, hoping it wasn’t too harsh.

“Avery.” Arlo suddenly turned to her. He said her name with such decisiveness and authority that she couldn’t help but straighten her back in attention.

“Yes?” She responded as if she was awaiting orders.

“I’ve known you only about a year and half but we’ve become really close friends. In fact, I’ve been thinking about maybe asking you to become one of the Civil Corps. I mean, you already do almost everything we normally do. You even dealt with Huss and Tuss yourself and you even went into the Sewer Tunnels by yourself to deal with the Bandirat situation. And I’ve come to really admire and respect you for everything you have done for us and Portia. So I mean it when I say I would like your opinion on Nora.” Arlo said.

“What kind of opinion?” Avery asked.

“I really like Nora but I’ve only ever seen her as a little sister up until now. I’ve never even thought it was possible for her to like me. Do you think I should give it a try?” Arlo asked. Avery stared at him. She was sure her eyes were super wide in surprise and confusion. Her mind went blank as she digested his words.

Arlo wanted her to make the decision for him. That was a lot to put onto someone so suddenly.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He wanted her opinion. She’ll give him one.

“I can’t make that decision for you, Arlo. But I can give you a logical view on the situation. In my opinion, you and Nora would make a cute couple but I don’t recommend it. You don’t share her beliefs and that part of her is a huge part of what makes her, her.” Avery said.

“So you think I shouldn’t date her?” Arlo asked.

Arlo, that’s up to you. From where I’m standing, I can see there being problems with the fact that she belongs to the Church of the Light. She’s against weaponized technology. And all we’ve been doing recently is weaponizing technology. You’re a part of the Civil Corps and from what I can tell, you guys tend to side with the Research Center more than with Minister Lee. You really think he’ll stay quiet if you two start dating? No only would you be giving yourself the stress of that man interfering in your love life. You might be putting her in danger as well.” Avery said.

Arlo remained silent as he though it over. Avery sat quietly, waiting for him to reach a decision. After a long stretch of time, he sighed and smiled. “I knew talking to you would clear up my mind.” He said.

“I’m glad to hear that.” She said.

“Wanna grab some dinner before we go home?” Arlo stood up and walked towards the hill she slid down on, ready to climb up.

“Nah. Aadit is waiting for me at home.” Avery began climbing the hill with ease.

Arlo stopped and turned around. He looked surprise. “You and Aadit are dating?” He asked.

"Engaged actually.” She smiled wide. “We’re going to send out invitations next month, so keep an eye out for it.”

….……

There was a loud beeping noise to her left. And she can hear Dr. Xu to her right talking to Phyllis. She couldn’t make out what they were saying. She tried to open her eyes but they felt heavy. There was an aching pain on her back. As she slowly came to consciousness, she realized she was laying on her front and there were a few bags of ice on her back. The beeping noise was the heart monitor and Dr. Xu and Phyllis were standing on the other side of the privacy screen. She was in his clinic.

“She doesn’t have any broken bones. Of course she’ll have to take time off work and rest. But I think she’ll be fine within a month’s time.” Dr. Xu said. “Make sure she stays home and doesn’t do any extraneous activities. I want her to come back in next month for a follow up.”

Avery opened her mouth to call out to him to let him know she was awake. But then she heard _his_ voice.

“Of course. Thank you, Dr. Xu.” Aadit’s voice filtered through the privacy screen.

Avery saw red. The anger she hadn’t felt before suddenly boiled up from the pit of her stomach and it was a rage that she hadn’t felt since she settled in Portia as their newest Builder. Not caring about her injury, Avery pushed herself up off the bed. The ice packs fell to the floor. A loud groan escaped her lips as she sat up, feeling the pain tugging at her to stop moving.

“Avery! Don’t sit up!” Aadit came circling around the privacy screen to help her lay back down. He looked frazzled. His usually silky and straight hair was in disarray and his overalls were unclipped, shirt untucked.

If Dr. Xu and Phyllis weren’t right behind him, she would have shaken out of his grasp as he helped her settle back down. But she wasn’t in favor of airing their personal business for all to see. And she wasn’t sure that’s how she wanted to handle it either. If he was in any way hostile to being exposed, she would be risking Dr. Xu and Phyllis’ lives. Instead, she settled for staying quiet and allowing Aadit to put the ice packs back on her back.

“I came as quickly as I could.” Aadit said. “I’m so glad you aren’t badly injured.” He petted her hair and kissed her forehead.

And although he was looking at her with all the love he had for her and she was looking at him with the sweetest and most loving eyes she was able to muster up, she can still see that he wasn’t fooled. He knew she knew.

_Fucking shit._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I ended up not finishing my first playthrough because the game was crashing and my Switch was also giving me problems. I'm doing a second playthrough on PC and am learning new things about Portia and Aadit. 
> 
> This story might be a bit more canon divergence than I expected it to be. I might skip over some of the Rogue Knight missions in later chapters. 
> 
> I watched an interview that Stephen King did a few years back in like 2018(?) and he spoke about how characters tend to write themselves, that they bring life to the story all on their own and no matter how hard you try to make them stick to YOUR script, it won't always happen. And it was absolute truth for this chapter. I wanted a few things to happen differently but Avery and Aadit wasn't having it. So, I gave in and did it their way. I still love them all the same and I think this chapter actually turned out quite well. Maybe they do know what they're doing, haha! 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

When Avery came to Portia, she had expectations. She expected to live quietly in Maurice’s abandoned workshop. She wasn’t a builder by trade but she knew the trade and she knew it well, so when asked to stay and become the newest resident builder, Avery packed everything up and ran for the next ship leaving for Portia’s harbor. Her aunt Kendra was against her moving to some out of the way town, or in her words “the fucking boonies”.

“You don’t even know if this Mr. Presley really knew Maurice! We don’t even know if Maurice even ever lived in Portia!” Her aunt had yelled across the house at Avery as she trotted around collecting the things she wanted to bring with her. She had already sent word to Portia about two weeks ago saying she was coming and estimated her arrival at about a month later. It was too late to rescind her acceptance of the workshop now. She didn’t know Maurice well and honestly, she didn’t know what he currently looked like either but his _gift_ had come at the right time, almost like he knew she needed it, and she was going to take it, suspicious or not. 

“What if something happens to you?” Kendra chased after her.

“Aunt Kendra, I’m going.” Avery said.

When Avery met Wuwa, who was already waiting for her at the port with his boat, she was practically bouncing out of her skin. It wasn’t like she was new to travelling but somehow she was more excited than she had ever been. Despite all the rumors of Portia being a rundown town in the middle of nowhere, Avery found herself looking forward to settling down in a quiet town where nothing happened.

The first month was practically lazy heaven for her. She had gotten a good look at the workshop Maurice had left her and even though it was a bit rundown, missing a few floor boards, and his handbook was practically bare, Avery was determined to make it work. She quickly passed the Commerce Guild’s builders license qualification test, much to surprise of Presley. He was one of her favorite residents in Portia, kept to himself, had an established routine, and was pleasant to talk to. He never judged when she had questions and taught her everything she needed to know about the ranking system they implemented at the guild.

Her second favorite person was Arlo. He was a bit rough around the edges but he was kind and looked out for her like she had been in the town for all her life. When Huss and Tuss came around trying to extort her for money, Avery had half a mind to just deal with them herself. As a traveller, she was familiar with scammers and could have easily laughed them off. But then she remembered that she was part of a town now, part of a community. And these people may be a bit simple and naive about the outside world but they were nice and caring. Avery found herself wanting to rely on them.

When she spoke to Arlo, he laughed. Not at her though. It was a hearty belly laugh and showcased his amusement at Huss and Tuss’ creativity. He promised her that he would show up at the designated time and date. And he did. Exactly on time, wide and alert, and ready to arrest the buffoons. Avery had a wonderful laugh that morning as she watched the two waddle run away from Arlo towards the river and the bridge she had built.

And then she met Aadit.

She had bumped into him when she was hauling a large bag of fish to The Round Table and try to sell them to Django for some extra spending money. She was just about to cross the town gate and he had just rounded the corner. They would have crashed into each other if they both didn’t have the reflexes to stop just mere inches away from each other.

Avery looked up. And the first thing that went through her mind was: _hello sexy!_

Her lips pulled into a smile immediately. She had hoped to pull off a seductive smile but she had a hidden suspicion that it came off a bit more like she had just learned that Higgins, that fucktard, had gotten his license taken away.

“Hi, I’m Avery.” She dropped the sack of fish, not even caring that one of the goliaths slipped out and onto the ground. She wiped her hand on her shirt before extending it for a handshake.

Aadit looked amused as he accepted her handshake. “I’m Aadit. Nice to meet you. You’re the new builder that settled across the road from Sophie and Emily aren’t you?”

_Oh my god, that grip!_

“Yes, I am.” Avery beamed.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I work up at the Tree Farm. If you need any help or any wood, please come to us. We’ll happily supply you.” Aadit smiled.

“Really? I always thought the Tree Farm was more about conserving and breeding different species of trees to plant around the area.” Avery said.

“Yes and no. We do cut down some of the trees to supply the town with firewood or anything else they need wood for. By doing the supplying ourselves, we can prevent random citizens going out and clearing out entire sections of forest. Keeps the balance.” Aadit explained.

_Sexy and knowledgeable. Let’s date!_

_“_ Go on a date with me.” Avery blurted out. She covered her mouth immediately. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.” Her words muffled behind her hand.

Aadit laughed loud and clear to the sky. A heavy blush spread from her cheeks, up her forehead, and down her neck to her chest.

“Ok. Let’s do that. Tomorrow at The Round Table at 1900?” Aadit smiled at her fondly.

“Yes!” She shouted, a smile stretching her lips so wide she felt a cramp creeping up her cheeks. He laughed again before bidding her goodbye.

When Avery finally made it to The Round Table, Django was staring at her. She looked at him suspiciously as she dropped the bag of fish at his feet and opened it for him to inspect.

“Can I sell you some of this? I need some extra money this week.” She said. He kept staring and she kept side eyeing him.

“Sure.” His smile was a bit unnerving.

“O-kay…” Avery sat down at the bar, waiting for him to finish his inspection and choosing the ones he wanted. Django went through the bag quickly and chose out five goliaths and ten wise fishes, three of them were quite frankly obese for their species.

“I’ll take these.” He said. His smile getting more apparent.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Avery asked.

“He saw you and Aadit.” Sonia rounded the edge of the bar with the drinks tray. She leaned close into Avery’s space, pushing up her chest more out of habit than to seduce Avery. “You like Aadit.” She teased.

“... No comment.” Avery teased back.

“Bitch.” Sonia shot back. Avery stuck her tongue out.

Django gave her the pouch of gols for the fish and patted her on the shoulder. “Aadit is a fine choice, young one. I’m happy for you.”

“I’m not marrying him Django. It’s just a date.” Avery pocketed the gols and stood up. She picked up the bag of fish and sealed it shut for the walk home.

“Oh, honey. Aadit may be just as new to this town as you but the first thing we all learned about him is that he doesn’t just _date._ ” Sonia said as she walked away to attend to a customer calling for her attention.

….…..

Dr. Xu came around the privacy screen with a sweet smile on his face. He picked up one of the ice packs that fell down next to the wall and handed it off to Phyllis. “Phyllis, can you change her ice packs? They’re melting.” He said.

“Of course, Dr. Xu.” Phyllis collected the ice packs off Avery’s back and rushed off to get new ones.

If Dr. Xu hadn’t said anything, Avery wouldn’t have noticed she had water droplets sliding off her back. Aadit seemed to have just noticed as well; he grabbed some paper towels by the hospital bed and began wiping her down. He was gentle, careful around her bruises and whenever she winced, he’d stop and look at her, waiting for her to give him the signal to continue. The anger she felt at hearing his voice had died down a little. She still felt it sitting there, poking at her chest, wanting to be let out and wreak havoc on the man who was tending to her like the caring and doting husband people knew him as.

“Avery, how are you feeling?” Dr. Xu had migrated to the other side of the bed, getting out of Aadit’s way.

Avery turned to him. “Just sore. How are the others?” She asked, just remembering that there were three other people in that fight other than her.

Dr. Xu sighed. “Sam had some small pieces of shrapnel in her arm but I’ve managed to get them out. She should be fine. Mali has some bruising on her back but she’s up and about. Seems like she’s used to being beat up. Arlo… Arlo has fractured ribs.”

Avery suppressed the urge to puff out a laugh. Of course Arlo was the one with the fractured ribs. She should have known he would take the chance instead of letting it go. Aadit was looking at her, his right eyebrow slight arched, just a tiny bit, barely noticeable unless someone spent as much time as Avery did in staring at his face. She arched her own brow at him, a much more obvious movement than his. They both looked away.

Phyllis came back with the packs of ice. Aadit took them from her wrapped them thin cotton fabrics, and applied them to Avery’s back. She twitched at the cold slightly. Aadit patted her hair. It was calming. She relaxed against the bed and closed her eyes, listening to Dr. Xu talk about how to take care of her injury for the next month. She felt kind of bad for him because she was positive she wasn’t really listening anymore. It was like a conditioned response, Aadit would pet her hair and her eyes would flutter close, ready for sleep. She wondered if Aadit conditioned her on purpose to respond like this or if it was merely coincidence.

Dr. Xu’s voice stopped. A soft silent ring filled the air before someone spoke again.

“Is she asleep?”

“Most likely.”

“She’ll sleep a lot for the next week or so. The more she sleeps, the faster she heals.”

The next time Avery opened her eyes she was back home, sleeping on their bed, blanket tucked up to her chin and the persistent backache. She turned onto her side, sighing at the relief that brought on her back. She peeked at the window. The sun was setting. It bathed the room in a yellow-orange glow. She slowly sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

There was sound coming from the living room. Avery listened to him move. He was puttering about, cleaning. Most likely clearing away the bits and pieces of machinery she had strewn about. She was horrible at cleaning, despite being a builder working with flammable and explosive materials. And then she heard the tell tale sign of duct tape being pulled off a roll. Her curiosity peaked, Avery got off the bed. She immediately doubled over into herself, clutching at her chest at the pain that shot through her back and into her front. A deep long groan escaped her lips as she sat back down to take a few deep calming breaths.

She had forgotten how badly it hurt.

Aadit came power walking into the room. He had gotten rid of his overalls, opting for his faded sky blue lounge pants and white shirt. His hair was tied up into a ponytail to keep it out of his face.

_Sexy!_ Avery tamped down her sexual desire. It was not the time, especially knowing what she knew. Aadit sat down on the bed and placed a steadying hand on her back. Without much thought and in the safety of their own home, away from prying eyes, Avery knocked his arm off with a sweeping elbow. He looked shock. A small spike of fear shot through her heart as she realized who she had knocked away. Running on instinct, Avery jumped up, her legs trying to get distance from him. She fell over in pain.

“Stop moving.” He picked her up and sat her back on the bed. His voice lost its softness. In its place was a commanding tone, not threatening but demanding obedience all the same. Not seeing much choice due to her limited mobility, Avery looked up at him and reached out her arms to him. They were shaking slightly, still feeling that adrenaline rush. And possibly she feared him just a bit.

_Who are you?_

“Help me… sit back.” She asked. He smiled softly and wrapped his arms under her armpits so he can lift and shift her back against the pillow he propped up against the headboard.

“You need to stay still. If you keep moving around like that, you’ll only make it worse.” Aadit said.

_Who the fuck do you think put me in this situation?_

“Right.” Avery said.

Silence hung between them. It grew, adding pressure to the situation they felt themselves living in. Neither wanted to speak first. Aadit busied himself with adjusting the blanket and the pillows around her. He fiddled with the painkillers Dr. Xu had given them and arranged them on the nightstand. Anything to avoid looking at her.

When she knocked his hand away, she had felt a moment of fear, remembering what she had learned recently about the man she had committed herself to. The man she thought she knew well, better than anyone really, but apparently not. There was so much more to him and there was so much more potentials for him to surprise her. Whether those were good surprises or bad surprises was what scared her. She didn’t know. And usually that would have been fine but with what had happened, bad surprises can become extremely dangerous for her. The fear she felt tangled with the anger still bubbling inside her. They battled each other, both wanting to be the dominant one. And for awhile, it seemed like fear was winning. She was getting increasingly desperate to leave the room, go out for a walk, maybe stay with Sam for a bit or even ask Arlo if she can stay at the Corps for a few nights.

But then she had another thought. _Why the fuck do I have to leave my house when he was the one who moved in?_ And with that, the anger was revived. It pushed through the fear, trying to escape but the fear was still very present. Eventually the two melded together, settling into a coexistence of cautiousness. And it was this new cautiousness that gave her the courage to look him in the eyes with her own commanding gaze and speak her mind.

“Aadit, we need to talk.” She said those famous words that she knew was the beginning of many relationship disasters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Please leave a comment to tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took quite a while. I suffer frequently from writer's block and general laziness so this chapter had sat around in my documents folder, begging to be finished and to make some kind of sense. I was so sure that it'd take me longer to get the motivation to continue but then I listened to Taylor Swift's new albums Folklore and Evermore. Which I was not expecting to be good. I have to be honest, I originally wrote her off as some kind of generic pop singer but those two albums are insanely good. Like genius good. And I found that they perfectly encompass how I see Aadit's and Avery's relationship. It's a committed relationship between two people who are loyal for life but at the same time, they stand on two opposite sides of a struggle that is both an international incident but also a very personal one for them as well. Maybe I'm assigning too deep of a storyline to a cute little game but I am intending to go very dark with this one.

Avery sat at the desk facing their bedroom window, writing down the materials she needed from Dana. There was another piece of paper under the small wooden paperweight Aadit gave her as an engagement gift. That piece of paper was an apology for her Aunt Kendra, detailing how sorry she was for not contacting her when she got hurt. But she left out a lot of the truth. If she had told her aunt everything in the letter, it would have been six pages long and sent in two separate envelopes. Sitting beside the letter and paperweight was a box of wine that she had coerced Django into selling her. The box of wine was opened and she was draining it quickly.

The house was quiet. Both Pinky and Scraps still out exploring the town and conning Portians into feeding them. Avery hadn’t left the house much ever since that day that Aadit had brought her home after being examined by Dr. Xu. When she demanded they talk, she had full intentions of understanding his circumstances. But Aadit had refused to talk to her. The moment he heard her say that they needed to talk, no matter how commanding her voice was and how determined she looked, his expression harden. A disapproving frown stretched his lips and pulled his eyebrows close together. His back straightened and he leaned away from her. He hadn’t actually said anything but she could tell that he was ready to object to her offer of talking. Still feeling the lingering shivers of fear, Avery wrapped the blanket tightly around her shoulders.

She sighed and adjusted her sitting position before she said, “I’m a firm believer in always knowing the truth. Call me a nosy person or a gossiper but knowing the truth is essential to living. But I’m also quickly becoming a believer of not asking questions to answers I don’t want to hear.”

Aadit said nothing.

“Which one should I believe in more, my dear husband?” Avery asked. The shakes had subsided.

He refused to speak once again. Instead, he got up to head out of the room. She listened to him move. There was a clink of glass, a scrap against wood and the rushing sound of water. He came back in with a glass of water.

“Your lips are dry. Have some water.” He said as he handed her the glass. She took it but made no moves to drink it.

They sat in silence. She stared at him and he avoided her gaze.

“Gale will be expecting a debrief from me soon. Arlo and Mali will most likely be there as well.” Avery said. “I usually recount events as they are… Of course, I’ve never really had much of a personal attachment to these little adventures I take with the Civil Corp. After all, what do I know of how Bandirats are living or how old world machinery relate to this new world we live in? And yet, I have discovered that I’m much more related to the current events than I thought I was.” Avery clutched the water glass tightly.

“Avery… I don’t like being spoken to like that.” Aadit said.

“And I don’t like being lied to. It puts a despicable feeling inside of me.” Avery shot back.

“Drink the water.” Aadit said.

“Why? Is it poisoned?” Avery asked.

“No! Why would you think I would poison you!?” Aadit shouted.

“Is it that far of a stretch for me to think you’d poison me? After all, I don’t really know you. Who are you!?” She shouted.

“Don’t ask me that. I can’t tell you.” Aadit said.

“No. I deserve to know. It is a right that you have taken away from me. Who did I marry, Aadit?! Did you really like me when we met? Or was this just some ploy for you to get close to the Civil Corp?” Avery asked.

“I love you.” Aadit said. “But please, believe in not asking questions to answers you don’t want to know a little more.”

“What about me? What about the position you have placed me in? I’m not just some simple builder living in the outskirts of town! I have been heavily involved with Civil Corp missions. I am not even originally from here! I’m a stranger that they have allowed into their town and now you’ve gone and done this!? Have you ever considered the repercussions I would face because of your actions?”

“...I’m sorry.” Aadit said.

Avery placed the water glass on the nightstand. “You have to talk to me, Aadit. I don’t know what’s happening anymore. Why are you here? Why did you steal? Why are you looking for the All Source? Where are you from? All these questions are giving me a headache. I thought I married someone I knew but now I’m not even sure if you poisoned this water. I’m not even sure if I should be feeling safe with you despite feeling safe with you.”

Aadit lurched forward to grab her hands. He held them tightly and pulled her into a hug. “You are always safe with me. I would never intentionally hurt you. And I promise you that I will never do anything that will be led back to you. Portia is your home and I will always make sure it is.”

“Aadit-”

The doorbell rang. They both looked up at it. It rang again.

“I’ll go see who it is.” Aadit released his hold on her and quickly went to the door.

She listened intently, hoping to hear who it was but the door was too far away. All she heard was quiet murmurs of words she couldn’t quite make out. Eventually she heard the door shut and three pairs of feet heading for the bedroom. She sat up straight. Aadit pushed the door open and slipped in. He pushed it shut.

“Gale and Mali are here. They said they need your statement before Mali can leave to hand in her report.” Aadit said. He did not look happy about it. There was a deep frown on his face and his fingers drummed on his thighs. A behavior of his that Avery learned to associate with stress.

“Fine. Help me up.” She threw the blanket off and shifted her legs off the bed.

“Avery…” Aadit came to help her but he was clearly hesitant to let her talk to them.

“Help me out into the living room.” She said.

_Serves you right for worrying._

Gale and Mali were sat on the couches in the TV area. They looked up with worried faces when Aadit helped her over. Avery smiled, not entirely sure if it reached her eyes.

“Gale, Mali, sorry for making you wait.” She greeted them.

“Hello, Avery. Sorry for intruding even though you’re injured.” Mali said.

“How are you?” Gale asked.

Aadit helped her sit down across from them but didn’t sit down himself. Instead, he stood behind the couch, a bundle of nervousness. There was a soft smile on his lips but the hands on her shoulders were tense. She side-eyed him for a moment before focusing her attention on the other two.

“I’m feeling much better. Aadit here has been hovering since I woke up so I’m well taken care of.” Avery giggled.

Gale nodded his head. “Aadit has always been a worrier.”

“That is true.” Avery smiled softly. “So, what is it that you need to know from me.”

“Right.” Mali pulled out notepad. “We think the Rogue Knight might be a Portian.”

“How so?” Avery felt her heart beat just a tad bit faster. Aadit’s hands tightened on her shoulder.

“Well, Arlo and I were throwing theories around and we concluded that the knight might have been living here for awhile. He’s most likely someone who has assimilated into the population and has been snooping around. Now, we’re not suspecting you. Gale here speaks very highly of you and even vouched for you. I heard your father was once a very valued citizen here. So I want to make it absolutely certain that you are not under suspicion.”

Avery’s stomach churned in discomfort. Mali glanced at Aadit and then back at Avery.

“Can we speak to you privately?” Mali asked.

Aadit’s hands tightened painfully on Avery’s shoulders. She fought hard to not wince. She reached a hand up to grab one of his and squeezed. A tiny hint that he was hurting her. He relaxed immediately. She smiled at Mali. “I’m sorry but can I ask why must you speak to me privately?”

Gale looked nervously between the two of them. Mali cleared her throat. “It contains certain private information that we’re not sure if you’d want it to be made public.”

“Mali-!”

“It’s ok, dear. I’ll step out for a moment.” Aadit released his hold on her shoulder.

_He’s running._ She grabbed onto his hand immediately. He peered down at her, fake soft smile in place. “Can you stop by the Tree Farm to renew our subscription? And maybe see if you can pick up some more hardwood. We’re running low and we need to fulfill Paulie’s order soon.” She said, hoping he’ll get the hint.

_Come back please. Don’t leave me._

A real smile stretched across Aadit’s lips. He bent down to give her a kiss and left to run the unnecessary errand for her. She watched him go. When the front door shut, Mali cleared her throat again.

“I’m sorry.” She said.

“For what?” Avery asked.

“... Do you know where Aadit is from?” Mali asked.

“Excuse me?” Avery asked.

Gale laughed nervously. “We’re not suspecting him. It’s just we’re looking into everyone that is not originally from Portia, excluding the women of course. Originally we wanted to question the people themselves but Mali said that if they were the knight, they’d just lie about it. So we’re asking people who are close to them, to get a sense of what they’re like beyond their public image.” He scratched the back of his head.

“Aadit is a pacifist.” Avery said.

“Right! I told Mali that he hates violence.” Gale said.

“With all due respect, it could just be an act.” Mali said.

“... Aadit is from Ethea.” Avery said. Not really a lie. Not really the entire truth either.

“Where in Ethea?” Mali asked.

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t very interested. He doesn’t have any family left there so it’s not like we were ever gonna go to Ethea.” Avery said.

“Has Aadit ever been gone for days at a time?” Mali asked.

“No.”

“Has Aadit ever acted unusual?”

“No.”

“You said he’s a pacifist. Do you believe that?”

Avery scoffed. “It annoys the hell out of me sometimes. He’s so soft spoken that I just want to wrap my arms around him and squeeze with all my might. Aadit... has never gotten angry with me. I’ve never even heard him speak a curse word. Sometimes I want to tell him to stop running so many errands for people. I want to ask him if he knows he’s being taken advantaged of? Sometimes I want to tell Martha to do her own shopping, do her own deliveries, to get her own husband but I keep it to myself because Aadit wouldn’t have liked that. That’s how much of a pacifist he is.”

“Wow, you know him quite well.” Mali said.

Gale laughed. “Of course she does! These two have been together since they met.”

“And just how do you know that Gale?” Aver teased.

“You two were not subtle. He followed you in the morning and you followed him in the afternoon.” Gale laughed heartily.

Mali chuckled. “I only have one question left. Does he have any current bruises that wasn’t there yesterday?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen any on his arms but I haven’t exactly been looking for bruises.” Avery said. “Why?”

“The knight fought four people. He’s bound to have bruises.” Mali explained.

“I see.” Avery said.

“Well, that’s it for me. I don’t have any questions left.” Mali turned to Gale. Gale nodded. “Sorry for keeping you from resting. I’m gonna head back immediately. In the meantime, keep your wits about you. I’ll come back with reinforcements.”

Gale and Mali stood up. Avery also tried to stand up but Mali gently pushed her back down.

“We’ll lock the door behind us. Stay and rest.” She said with a small smile.

“Ok. Thanks.” Avery smiled. “Safe travels.”

Mali and Gal left.

Aadit came back roughly two hours later. He entered the house cautiously, surveying his surroundings. When he confirmed that Avery was the only one in the house, sitting on the couch reading a book, he entered fully and locked the door. In his hand was a fabric bag. He held it up as he wandered further into the living room.

“Dawa sends his get well wishes and he made you some fish porridge.” He said.

“Really?” Avery flipped a page.

“... How are you feeling?” Aadit placed the bag down on the dining table.

“Mhm,” Avery hummed.

“How did the meeting go?” Aadit finally asked the question that must have been nagging him since he left. It was the exact question he wanted to ask but it was close enough that Avery knew what he really wanted to know.

She looked up. Her eyes were not kind. She dropped the book onto the cushion next to her. “If you are smart, you will stop acting like a fool. Mali is not as dense as you think she is.”

“Do you want to eat the porridge now?” Aadit asked as he pulled out a big pot from the bag.

“Dawa gave you his pot?” Avery arched a brow.

“He wants to make sure you have enough food. He says that I am not the best when it comes to cooking.” Aadit said.

“I’ll have some.” Avery said. Aadit wandered over to the couch to lift her up into his arms. He walked her over to the dining table and set her down on the nearest chair. “I could have walked.” She said

“I need the exercise anyway.” He replied.

“Bullshit.” She whispered. A small laugh escaped his lips. He turned back to the porridge, pouring her a bowl and setting that in front of her. He sat down and pulled out a small book he kept inside his overalls. She eyed him as she took a bite. “You should eat as well. I can’t possibly finish all of this myself. There’s like four servings in here.”

Aadit considered her proposal. She rolled her eyes and shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. “Eat.” She said.

“Alright.” He poured himself a bowl and began eating.

Silence engulfed them as they ate slowly, listening to the clock tick away the time. Aadit slowly flipping through his book and Avery observing the table cloth as she sipped at the delicious porridge. Pinky wandered in through the doggy door with Scraps uncomfortably close behind her. He trampled over one of her paws and she hissed at him. He barked, hunching down, and wagging his tail. She continued walking past and headed straight for her bed. Scraps bounded over to Aadit, trying to climb his lap.

“Down, Scraps.” Aadit picked up his front paws and set them on the ground. Scraps cocked his head.

“Come here, Scraps.” Avery said. Scraps turned his attention to her immediately. He reached up and she lifted him onto her lap. It was difficult and painful and left her slightly breathless but she was glad she was still able to lift him. He circled around on her lap before settling down for her to pet him. He closed his eyes.

“I’m serious. Mali is not stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wondering and slightly concerned for awhile after hearing about people stealing other people's fanfics and selling them for money. It's made me kind of hesitant to continue on with this story.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think.


End file.
